Owner Paul Reddam grew up in Windsor, Ontario, just across the river from Detroit, and he’s been a life-long fan of the Detroit Red Wings. This year, he has named several of his 2-year-olds after members of the hockey team, and the best of them, Nyquist, skated to the top of the local male division Saturday with a runaway victory in the Grade 2, $200,250 Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar.
The Waya Stakes is a 1 1/2-mile route, but all the drama was over in the opening strides. Goldy Espony set unpressured fractions and kicked away in the lane, posting a 3 1/4-length score in the Grade 3, $200,000 event for fillies and mares on Saratoga's inner turf.
Yes, Honor Code can go two turns. Honor Code, who displayed a devastating late kick to dominate the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap – a one-turn mile – rallied from as far back as 19 1/4 lengths to run down the pacesetting Liam’s Map and win Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Whitney Stakes by a neck at Saratoga.
There was plenty of exciting stakes action on Hambletonian Day at The Meadowlands.
Dream of Me rallied along the rail in getting past the longshot frontrunner Mr. Kisses to win the $200,000 Dr. Fager Stakes, the co-feature on the rich Florida Sire Stakes program Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
The Jockey Club projected the 2016 North American registered Thoroughbred foal crop at 22,500 on Saturday. If the projection holds true, it would mark the first year-to-year growth in the North American foal crop since 2005.
Call Pat came flying in the final furlong to catch 22-1 shot Fioretti in the shadow of the wire Saturday in an exciting 34th running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Groupie Doll Stakes, the annual showcase race at Ellis Park in western Kentucky.
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said he was concerned the pace was a little too slow, and he wasn’t sure how Cavorting would react to taking some dirt in her face during the running of Saturday’s $500,000 Test Stakes at Saratoga. But all of McLaughlin’s fears were put to rest after Cavorting unleashed a powerful run down the center of the track to prove a decisive 2 1/2-length winner over the longshot Bar of Gold in the prestigious Grade 1 Test for 3-year-old fillies.
Hall of Fame trainer Jimmy Takter captured the Hambletonian (and the Hambo Oaks) for the second consecutive year as Pinkman won the $1,000,000 final in 1:51 for driver Brian Sears.
Oak Bluffs made his stakes debut a winning one Saturday at Monmouth Park, surging between horses to take the $72,480 My Frenchman Stakes by a head over Ancil. It was the fourth straight win for Oak Bluffs, a 5-year-old Defrere gelding owned and trained by Jamie Ness.
